


Elevator Girl

by TooGoodToBeBad



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And there was only one elevator, F/M, Meet-Cute, Mentioned Blue Lions Students (Fire Emblem), Mentioned Golden Deer Students (Fire Emblem), Mutual Pining, These two are dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28384422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooGoodToBeBad/pseuds/TooGoodToBeBad
Summary: At some point, she’d started appearing, an unwitting addition to his morning routine. He didn’t know her name, but he’d recognize those bright orange locks and stormy blue eyes anywhere. They shared the morning elevator ride more often than not. Her stop was on the 5th floor, and his was on the 8th.Felix didn't know her name, or why she sang in the elevator, or why her songs lingered in his mind throughout the day.But he does know that he would very much like to talk to her.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 17
Kudos: 54
Collections: Netteflix Secret Seteth 2020





	Elevator Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bringmemisery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bringmemisery/gifts).



> BringMeMisery, I got you for Secret Seteth! I had a lot of fun with your prompts (Modern AU, Mutual Pining, Soft and Cute), and I hope you like this! Merry Christmas!
> 
> I also want to give a special shoutout to Kaerra for beta reading this piece! She taught me how to write good and do other things good, too. Without her this piece wouldn't have quite taken off the way it did, and she really helped to bring it to the next level with her really great insights. I've said it a bunch of times but I'll say it in public: thank you so much for all your help!

When he didn’t see Elevator Girl, Felix figured he was in for a terrible day.

If there was one thing Felix valued, it was consistency. Consistency was what got him through school with Sylvain and a grueling internship program that led to a pretty good job. He’d worked too hard and listened to too many disapproving lectures from his father about his career choice to let something as simple as change throw a wrench in his plans.

It carried over to everyday life. It was why every day he fixed his hair the exact same way, tied his necktie with the exact same knot, drove the exact same route, parked in the exact same spot, and got to the building lobby at the exact same time. At some point, she’d started appearing, an unwitting addition to his morning routine. He didn’t know her name, but he’d recognize those bright orange locks and stormy blue eyes anywhere. They shared the morning elevator ride more often than not. Her stop was on the 5th floor, and his was on the 8th. 

She sang, too. He first discovered this little factoid when the music in his earphones stopped during the elevator ride and he caught her humming a little song about steaks and cakes. The day after that was a song about bears, and the day after a song about swamp beasties. There may have even been a song about elevators. Apparently there was a whole catalogue of songs, and eventually he found himself pausing his music every morning just before he got onto the elevator just to hear her sing. The songs often lingered and danced around in his headspace for the rest of the day, which made it easier to deal with Sylvain’s babbling.

But today it seemed he wouldn’t be getting to hear a song from her, so he settled for replaying yesterday’s song about sporks in his head. When the elevator dinged open, he spared a glance at his surroundings. There was a distinct lack of orange hair in the lobby and a distinct lack of people waiting for the elevator with him, so he stepped in, having made peace with the fact that his shoddy mental rendition of her music would be a poor substitute for her singing. Before the doors could close, he saw her turn the corner and hurriedly sprint towards him. 

“Wait!” she cried out.

His fingers were on the button before he realized what was happening, and the little smile she gave him when she entered was enough to make his heart skip a beat. Sure, her hair may have been all sorts of windswept, and a little bit of the morning drizzle had found its way on her teal sweater, but she seemed as cheerful as ever. 

“Thanks,” she said shyly and offered him a tiny smile. 

With a start, he realized these were the very first words she’d ever exchanged with him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but it seemed his tongue was more knotted than his necktie, and nothing came out. Instead, he opted for a courteous nod and hoped maybe tomorrow he’d actually say _hi_ to her. 

Before the doors could close again, a man with deep purple hair and a meticulously tailored suit stepped on. 

“7th floor, please,” he said before returning his phone to his ear.

As Felix pressed the button and the doors began to close, the stranger began to speak _very loudly_. “Claude, I don’t think you’re quite getting what I’m saying — Hanneman is threatening to pull his money. He says he has no faith in your ability to identify macroeconomic trends. I’m sorry, _what_?!”

The man’s voice echoed in the tiny space of the elevator, but Felix found his eyes drifting towards her. She was busy trying to fix her hair into something that could be passed off as “presentable” when her eyes met his. That shy little smile was back, accompanied with a light dusting of pink on her cheeks. She jabbed her thumb towards the strange angry man in between them and made a big show of rolling her eyes.

He could feel the corners of his mouth twisting upwards in a tiny smile, even as the stranger’s conversation got even more heated. 

“Are you serious?” the man was pretty much shouting into his phone. “Seiros’ stock has been soaring lately, and you just _shorted_ it?! No… no! No! No, Claude, no! No, I don’t need another session with Marianne, Claude! _You_ need to get your head on straight.” 

The light above the buttons flashed a bright red “5”, and the doors slid open. Felix could only watch as she stepped out of the elevator. Before the doors closed shut, she gave him one last wave. Something burned at the tips of his ears, and all he could manage was a polite nod in her direction.

When the last thing he saw as the doors closed was her bright and cheery smile, he figured maybe the day wouldn’t be as terrible as initially feared. Even if he had to listen to whatever this strange man was yelling about over the phone for a bit longer.

His mood was strangely agreeable for the rest of the morning. He almost didn’t mind Sylvain talking his ear off about some girl he’d just met ( _she makes caps look hot, dude, I’m serious_ ), Dimitri’s odd attempts at water cooler small talk ( _we have weather today, yes?_ ), and Ingrid waxing poetic about her lunch in the breakroom ( _the Monte Cristo is definitely in my top 10 favorite sandwiches_ ). His friends still got on his nerves, but not as much as they usually did.

The song about sporks still playing in his head had nothing to do with it. Neither did the memory of her smiling at him in the elevator. Saints, he _had_ to talk to her tomorrow, didn’t he? It’d be rude not to. A _hello_ at the very least would-

“Felix?”

He blinked himself out of his apparent reverie and found himself in the breakroom with an unbitten slice of pizza in his hands.

“What?”

From his seat, Sylvain narrowed his eyes at him curiously. “There you are. The lights were on, but I was wondering if anyone was home.”

Felix grunted something noncommittal in response, to which Sylvain shrugged and took another bite of his Hot Pocket. With his nosy redheaded friend seemingly satisfied, Felix turned his attention to his own lunch. 

“Could you please pass the hot sauce, Dimitri?” he asked.

Both Sylvain and Ingrid turned their heads toward him. Ingrid’s expression was perplexed, and Sylvain’s was downright mischievous. 

“Well, aren’t you in a pleasant mood today, Felix.” Sylvain’s voice dripped with smug playfulness as he pointed his half-eaten Hot Pocket towards Felix, paying no mind to the fact that he was spilling meat and cheese on the table.

“This must be the first time I’ve ever heard you say ‘please.’” Ingrid chuckled as she hurriedly wiped away at the melted cheese with a napkin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Felix grumbled as he poured hot sauce on his slice of pizza and took a bite. 

“I heard you whistling at your desk.” Sylvain smirked. “Sounded like a cute little ditty, if I may say so myself.”

“You didn’t make a face at Seteth’s morning hype-up speech,” Ingrid added. “You once told me those speeches were ‘diarrhea of the mouth.’”

“You’ve been _nice_.” Sylvain drew out that last word very slowly while shooting Felix a crooked and cheeky grin. 

“I can be nice.” Felix scowled, wondering why his friends had to pick today of all days to be extra annoying. And to think the day had a sort of okay start.

Not that he’d ever tell them that.

“I think Felix can be nice.” Dimitri looked up from his spaghetti and chimed in with a dumb, goofy smile on his face.

“Shut up,” Felix said.

“You know I’m going to get to the bottom of this, right?” Sylvain said before taking a bite from a chocolate donut. “Even if it’s something as mundane as you being happy because your chatty neighbor died, I will find out. Remember, I was the one who discovered why Ingrid had lunch at that nearby bistro for 4 weeks straight.”

“It was for the books!” Ingrid protested and threw a crumpled up napkin at Sylvain’s face. 

Sylvain very nonchalantly shrugged off her poisonous glare. Felix, having had enough conversation with his friends for the next two days, hastily shoved the last of his pizza into his mouth and stormed out, leaving his bickering friends behind in the breakroom.

The last thing Felix needed was Sylvain finding out he planned on talking to a girl; he'd never hear the end of it otherwise.

* * *

Thursday nights were usually spent drinking with Sylvain and Dimitri. That, too, was consistent. Even Ingrid joined sometimes. They went to the same bar a few blocks away from work, because every Thursday there was a “Buy Two, Take One” deal on whisky colas and the food was halfway decent. But Sylvain was hanging out with Cap Girl ( _my buddy’s got a buddy who’s got a buddy who’s got a place with amazing pot pie_ ) and Dimitri had a thing ( _I have a thing_ ), so Felix figured he’d drive home and maybe scrounge around his fridge for leftovers. 

A drink would have been nice, he mused as he waited for the elevator and watched the rain come down relentlessly. He stepped on, vaguely pleased when he saw that it was empty. The elevator began its descent towards the ground floor before slowing until it stopped completely, and Felix looked up at the indicator. 5th floor. Funny. 

The first thing he saw when the doors opened was her wide-eyed gaze as her face lit up in recognition. 

“Oh! Hello again!” Elevator Girl chirped excitedly as she stepped on.

“Hi there,” Felix finally managed to say.

“You know,” she began as the doors closed once more and the elevator continued its journey downwards, “I didn’t get to thank you properly for this morning, when you saved the elevator for me. So thank you!”

She was smiling widely at him, and something tickled in his chest. 

“You don’t have to thank me,” he replied while trying to ignore the heat flaring at the tips of his ears. “It was no big deal.”

“But it was,” she insisted. “I had to walk to work this morning since I usually hitch a ride with my roommate. But she’s out of town now and it doesn’t really make sense to call an Uber when it’s just a ten minute walk to work, but then I dropped my breakfast bagel and then I got rained on since I didn’t bring my umbrella with me, but-”

She was cut off by the sound of the doors opening and the hubbub of a busy building lobby invading their moment. Felix’s shoes clicked against the lobby floor as he exited the elevator, and Elevator Girl was right behind him.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that you did something nice for me, which was a real highlight of an otherwise crummy morning. So thank you!” She beamed up at him, and for the first time Felix realized that she was very short. It probably added to her charm.

“Umm, you’re welcome…” his voice trailed off when he realized he didn’t know her name.

“Annette,” she supplied helpfully.

“Annette.” He nodded. “That’s a pretty name,” he added before his brain could stop him.

“Oh, thank you!” she giggled, and it seemed the fluorescent lights of the lobby were tingeing her cheeks with the faintest shade of pink. “What’s yours?”

“My what?”

Her lips turned downwards in a slight pout and she raised a perplexed eyebrow. “Your name, silly!”

Felix had never once in his life ever been called _silly_. It should have annoyed him to no end. Strangely enough, it didn’t. 

“Felix,” he finally remembered to say.

“Felix,” she said slowly, and the sound of her saying his name was already doing something funny to his breathing. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then! And I’ll make it up to you for this morning!”

“You don’t have to,” he began and started to walk towards the exit. 

When he saw the rain still pouring outside, he faltered and turned back towards her. “How are you going home?”

Her bright blue eyes blinked at his question. “Oh! I figured I’d just wait for the rain to die down and then I’d-”

“I-I-I can give you a ride, if you want.” He hoped the burn on his cheeks wasn’t visible. “If that’s cool with you. Not all the way to your place if you’re… I mean I can drop you off somewhere, or something.”

“But you already did something nice for me!” she protested. “And I’d hate to put you out! I’m sure you’ve got places to be!”

“Not really,” he shrugged. “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just thought I’d offer.”

“Well,” she drawled out slowly as she absentmindedly chewed her bottom lip, “if you’re sure it’s no trouble. I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

Something warm and pleasant coursed through his veins when she nodded her head at him and smiled. She had a very nice smile. It’d be rude not to return it.

But before Felix could actually crack a smile, a familiar voice called out to him from across the lobby. “Felix!”

He tried to fight the grimace that threatened to break out as Ingrid began to walk towards him while she waved and wore what Felix could only assume was a _scheming_ expression. A nervous ball of energy settled in his gut at the sight of it. 

In his mind, he began to run through his options. Of his three friends, Ingrid was probably the best (i.e. _least worst_ ) person to make this discovery. She wasn’t Sylvain, which was already a big plus. And she could at least try to keep a secret, which Dimitri could not do to save his life. If Felix had any interest in keeping control of the situation (which he did), he _had_ to humor her. Nevertheless, it took a surprising amount of willpower to stay in place and have a conversation instead of running or brushing her off.

“What?” he asked pointedly.

“Since your Thursday drinks are off the table today, I _was_ going to ask if you wanted to grab a bite with me.” She smirked as her piercing green eyes honed in on him and his companion. “Unless you’ve made other plans?”

“I’m indisposed right now,” Felix huffed.

“Felix said he didn’t have plans,” Annette piped in. “He just offered to give me a ride, but if you guys-”

“Oh, did he?” Ingrid’s voice was now too amused for her own good. “How _thoughtful_ of him.” 

She extended a hand towards Annette. “My name’s Ingrid.”

“Annette,” the redheaded girl replied and gave Ingrid’s hand a friendly shake.

“That’s a pretty name.”

Her blue eyes widened. “Felix said the same thing!”

Ingrid raised a curious eyebrow at Felix, who felt like his entire face was now on fire. 

“It seems you’re busy, Felix!” Annette laughed nervously. “I’d hate to impose-”

“I’m not. And you aren’t.” He didn’t know why he felt so panicked, but he did his best to keep it out of his voice before shooting Ingrid a look that he hoped said _don’t ruin this for me_. “We should go soon if we don’t want to get caught in traffic.” 

“Well, don’t let me keep you two! I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ingrid grinned and clapped Felix on the shoulder as she walked towards the exit. “Oh, and Felix?”

“ _What_?”

“You don’t have to worry about a thing; I won’t tell Sylvain.” She smiled brightly at him before heading out the building.

* * *

“This is your car?” Annette said excitedly from the passenger seat and strapped in her seatbelt.

“No need to be so amazed,” Felix scoffed and started the car. “It’s nothing special. Just a regular old sedan.”

“I mean, yeah, but guys with your whole vibe usually drive motorcycles! And wear those jackets with all the patches on them.”

He frowned as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the city streets. “Where are we going? And what vibe?”

“I’m near Shambhala Park. And you didn’t know you had a vibe?” she prattled on. “You’ve got this whole ‘cool, mysterious, handsome’ thing going on, even if you do wear a suit and tie to work all the time. Do you guys not have casual Fridays or anything?” 

Felix nearly crashed his car into a bus stop. Thankfully he was used to staying calm while driving (a driver with less fortitude would have lost control of the car the minute Sylvain opened his mouth on a road trip), so he did not lose control of the wheel and send them careening into a bratwurst stand. 

“Did you just say I was handsome?”

The shock was quick to register, and her face immediately flushed a deep and vibrant crimson. “N-nope, I definitely did not.”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded, trying to push back that foreign, squishy feeling that was filling the gaps between his ribs. “Okay, then.”

The stoplight ahead flashed red, and the car slowed to a halt. Felix had never felt so acutely aware of _silence_ before, and instincts he’d long forgotten about were screaming at him to say something, anything. At the rate things were going, the light would probably go green before he managed to untangle his tongue.

“So how was your day?” she asked, breaking the silence for them.

“It was… fine. My friends were annoying.”

She raised a curious eyebrow at him. “Why?”

He opened his mouth to say something when he thought better of potentially revealing that her little songs got stuck in his head. And that his friends thought he was a jerk. 

“They just are.”

“Ohhh,” she said very slowly. “That’s unfortunate.”

“… It is.”

In the awkward pause that followed, he spared her another sideways glance. She was still dressed in her teal sweater from the morning, and he noticed the way her hands were almost swaddled completely by her sleeves. When she cocked her heads towards him and her eyes met his, something rattled in his chest when he saw the subtle shades of pink blooming on her cheeks.

“Did I do something?” Her voice was coming out an octave higher than usual.

“Not really,” Felix mumbled as he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “I’m not very good at this. Small talk or whatever.”

“Ohh no, that’s fine!” she said with a bright smile. “You can play some songs, if you like. You got any music?”

“I do,” he replied. “But I’ve been told my music’s not socially acceptable. Besides, I don’t want to mess with whatever vibe you think I’ve got.”

“Color me intrigued.” There was a curious, almost playful light in her eyes, and he could feel his resolve falter like it was being washed away by the rain outside. “You can’t just say something like that and _not_ play it.” 

“It’ll be your funeral.” He could feel the corners of his mouth twitch up in a smirk.

“Challenge accepted.” There was a defiant twinkle in her eyes. It was cute.

Felix fished his phone out of his pocket and connected it to his stereo. Dimitri had given him one of those nifty Bluetooth button kits that was attached to his steering wheel, and he hesitantly pressed a button.

In an instant, a chunky, downtuned guitar riff blared from his speakers. Furious and aggressive double-bass drums pounded at his ears, and when the harsh, screamed vocals came through, he almost wanted to laugh at the way her face blanched in shock. He paused the music while a barely contained smile creeped onto his face.

“Well,” she began. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but I’m definitely not surprised! Are you _sure_ you don’t ride a motorcycle?”

He actually laughed at that. “Pretty sure.”

Up ahead, the stoplight finally flashed green, and they were back in motion. The two of them were silent again, but it wasn’t the awkward sort of silence that left Felix restless and looking for a way out. It was a pleasant and friendly silence. Companionable, even.

Annette nearly jumped at the sound of a sharp ringtone cutting through their little moment. She fished her phone out of her bag and glanced at the screen.

“Sorry,” she said with a sheepish smile. “It’s my friend Hilda. Do you mind if I answer this? I’ll be quiet! Not like that guy this morning.”

“Not at all,” he chuckled. “Go ahead. Just no conversations about stocks.”

The little giggle that escaped her was like a song to his ears, and he could feel his pulse quicken at the sound of it while she answered her phone. 

One of the many life skills that Felix picked up over years of friendship with Sylvain was tuning out conversations that did not involve him. He’d also heard enough lectures from Ingrid (usually directed at Sylvain) to know that eavesdropping was rude.

Instead, he focused his gaze on the road ahead. It was all too easy to get lost in the twists and turns of the city streets, and the silence only seemed to amplify the little tune playing in his mind that refused to disappear. Before long his fingers were keeping tempo, tapping idly against the steering wheel while he hummed to himself.

 _Sporks! A mix between a spoon and a fork. Sporks! Great for_ -

“What do you think you’re doing?” a suddenly very alarmed-sounding Annette broke the silence.

“I think I’m trying to get to Shambhala Park,” he said and raised an eyebrow. “I know where it is, but it’s not like I memorize every single city-”

“No, why are you humming _my song_? Why do you know it? You always have your earphones in when you step on the elevator!”

Perhaps _now_ was not the right time to admit that he paused his music just so he could hear elevator songs better. Or that her songs made his days better and his friends less annoying.

“This is so embarrassing,” she mumbled as she buried her face in her hands to hide the flush that blossomed across her cheeks. “Do you think you could forget those songs?”

He shook his head at her. “Couldn’t if I tried.”

“Are they that silly?” She lifted her face from her hands and blinked at him.

“Not really, no,” he mumbled while that now-familiar heat tickled at his ears again. “I just like them.”

“Y-you do?”

“I really do.” 

“Ohh, thank you.” There was a shyness laced through her voice while she twiddled her thumbs. “No one’s ever really said they’ve liked them!”

“Huh,” he replied, unsure of what else to say. 

He was suddenly hyper aware of this newfound silence that filled the space between them. A quick glance at his no-longer-rainy surroundings was enough to know that they were near Shambhala Park, and if he was going to do _anything_ , it had to be now.

For a briefly stupid moment, Felix wished he’d paid at least half-attention to Sylvain’s antics when it came to girls. If nothing else, Sylvain could at least be used as an example of what _not_ to do. Was it too soon to ask for a number? To dinner, even? 

“Annette,” he began as he pulled over to the curb.

“Yes?” That tiny smile directed at him was enough for him to lose all his words again.

The sight of her blue eyes blinking at him curiously snapped him back to reality, and his cheeks burned with the realization that he’d probably been staring at her. “Do… maybe-”

“Do you want to get dinner?” she blurted out. “There’s a diner nearby, and I… well, it’s dinner time.”

Felix wasn’t sure if he heard her right, what with the way his heart was now pounding in his ears while his hands tingled like they were stricken with a bad case of pins and needles.

“Dinner?” he repeated dumbly, like this was the first time he’d ever heard the word. 

“Yeah!”

So he’d heard her perfectly. If he could manage to find his words and say “yes, I would very much like to have dinner with you” without sounding stupid, all would be fine and dandy.

“Uhh.”

“O-ohh,” she faltered, and something in her face fell. “Well, thanks for the ride, then. And the elevator. I’ll just-”

“ _Iwouldliketohavedinnerwithyou_ ,” he tried to say, but his words were stumbling out in a jumbled mess. “Dinner sounds nice. Dinner with you sounds nice.”

There was something endearing in the way her eyes lit up at his words and the way she clapped her hands excitedly. “Okay, awesome! Have you ever eaten at Rangeld’s?”

“I like it there, actually.”

“You do?” she asked, and the surprise was apparent in her tone. “I mean, good! Great! Let’s go?”

It felt like his heart was soaring and all his words were running away from him, but he managed to say, “Let’s go.” 

A few minutes later, Felix was seated in a booth and smiling to himself as he watched her pore over the menu while some tinny surf rock song played on the sound system. 

“What are you getting?” She glanced up at him.

“My friends call me a ‘creature of habit’ — it’s always a bacon cheeseburger,” he replied, his menu left untouched on the table. “What about you?”

“I’m thinking waffles.” She grinned with childish giddiness. “With a side of bacon. And curly fries. How about you? Do you want an egg cream or something? Or a milkshake?”

He could feel his face scrunch up in disdain as his taste buds shuddered at the thought of milk and sugary syrup. “I don’t really like sweets, so no.”

“But the pies in this place are to die for!” She gaped at him in astonishment. 

“I’m still alive,” he replied drily.

“But you haven’t _lived_ ,” she insisted. “Let me buy you a slice of pie.”

He almost wanted to say no, but the petulant pout she sent his way looked very cute on her, and he was finding it very hard to say no to her.

“One bite,” he relented. “I’ll take one bite.”

“How about three?”

“Two bites, and you’ll eat the rest of it?” he offered.

“Deal.”

* * *

It almost felt like dinner went by too quickly. Maybe it did.

A good portion of the time was spent listening to Annette talk about everything and nothing at all. She’d told him about her roommate Mercie, her hometown out west, cats, and her opinion on at least three different things that Felix didn’t know a thing about. And he enjoyed every second of it.

He even said a few things of his own. About how he took up fencing when he was younger. About cats, as well. That was probably it, but she seemed more than happy to do enough talking for the both of them. And he was more than happy to listen to her.

Despite the cool night air nipping at his skin as he walked her back to her apartment, Felix’s face felt too hot, his hands too fuzzy, and his chest too warm. And the sweet little tune she was singing under her breath about waffles and whipped cream provided a nice little soundtrack to end an actually pleasant day. 

“Well, this is my place!” she said with a tone bright enough to light up the night sky. “I mean, not the whole building, obviously, but my apartment’s inside, and this is where we go our separate ways until we meet again!”

Felix bit back a smile at the hesitant giggle that punctuated her last statement. “I guess so. Good night, Annette.”

Before he could turn to leave, she practically leapt at him and wrapped him in a tight hug. “Thank you for… well, everything today!”

All his words left him the minute he found himself tangled in her embrace, and his arms hung uselessly at his sides. He was sure that she could hear the way his heart was stuttering loudly and erratically in his chest from the sudden (but not unwelcome) contact. It had been a while since Felix was hugged (Dimitri’s drunken tackles did _not_ count), so he hugged back the only way he knew how: with two firm pats on the back. 

She pulled away and looked up at him, and his tongue was tangling itself up in knots again when he realized she looked very pretty in the moonlight, with the stars in her eyes and the moon smiling at her.

“I’ll… this was… I really… good night, Annette.”

In the dark, the hope in her eyes shined just as bright as the stars above them. 

“Good night, Felix. To the next chance meeting!” She gave him one last shy smile before turning and making her way towards the building doors.

Felix could’ve tried to tell himself that this was another set of fortuitous circumstances in a long list of them that day. But he didn’t. This time, what was happening was by design. 

“Wait, Annette!”

“Yes, Felix?”

“Would you want to maybe grab dinner another time? Soon, maybe?”

She paused before giving him a wide grin that warmed his heart like nothing else. “I’d like that very much, Felix. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.” He smiled back.

And as Felix walked back to his car, he found himself humming a song about waffles and whipped cream.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback and comments are appreciated.
> 
> I hope you guys liked this!


End file.
